Obituary of Diane Claire Marks-Palmer

Diane Marks-Palmer was born the youngest of 7 siblings on December 16th, 1944. She grew to have a passion for hairdressing and opened her own shop called Diane’s Curl Shop in Owen Sound. Unfortunately she was diagnosed with Lupus at the age of 29 and had to sell her business due to her failing health. She was given only a few weeks to live but she knew it wasn’t her time to go. Diane fought her illness and was given a second lease on life which she dedicated to living selflessly and to the fullest. In 1979 she began fostering forgotten teens for the Children’s Aid Society. She knew that children do best when they live in safe, stable and nurturing homes but far too often they are abused and neglected with nowhere to go. There is a real shortage of homes for teens and so they often drift from home to home in hopes that someone will accept, embrace, and nature them through the darkest stages in their lives. In Diane’s home, those who others have passed over, kicked out, or given up on, found home baking, turquoise accents, dragonfly’s, roots and wings, with a lifetime pass to come back for visits. The teens Diane welcomed into her home came with scars and well-formed expectations with trauma most couldn’t begin to imagine. Through their time in her home they challenged, stretched boundaries, and too often left in a huff only to return to the one person who listened, agreed and then told them to get off their butts and strive to be better. Diane was frank but nurtured the drive to not let your scars define you, and instead to grow, heal and use life experiences towards becoming something truly remarkable. She was a passionate advocate for neglected and abused teens in our city. She was tolerant and understanding of the roller-coaster they were on and instilled hope, healing, and independence in them all. Diane gave her children the gift of a family they always longed for. Her daughter Shawna Lee-Anne Palmer lived right next door with spouse Scott Hagle and children Justin Palmer, Shelby Palmer, Brandon Hagle and Mackenzie Palmer-Hagle. She was also very close with her surviving siblings, Carol Gilmore, Marion Simpson, and Jim and Dorothy Marks whom she visited often in Listowel, Ontario. She was a great grandmother to Jayden Fones-Palmer and Matthew Foster as well as an Aunt, Great Aunt, and Great Great Aunt to many nieces and nephews. Diane’s foster children were welcomed and accepted as her own and spent their days enjoying the close nit nature of this family. Hundreds of foster children called Diane mom and went on to have children of their own that called her Grandma. Sadly Diane became ill with Meningococcal Disease and passed away suddenly on Thursday April 7th, 2016 at LHSC. Many rushed to be by her side and before long the room was filled with foster children, family and friends whose lives she touched so deeply. Diane would have been proud to see everyone coming together for such a profound and powerful moment. Those who visited with her expressed their forever gratitude for giving them such hope in life. She was embraced and surrounded in her final moments and eventually passed on comfortably at 3:42am. Diane may have never realized the profound effect she had on so many lives. We will never know if she knew how many would come together, step up, and help with her final arrangements. It is a true testament of her impact to witness foster children, who were aggressive and sometimes suicidal, turn their lives around and become the beacon of hope in the days following her passing. A memorial service will be held at Woodland Cemetery, 493 Springbank Dr, London, ON, on Saturday, April 23rd, 2016 at 11am with a reception to follow. Hundreds are expected to attend wearing accents of turquoise in her honor. Many will speak of the remarkable impact she had on their lives by sharing stories and memories of her. Diane is a leading example of the type of person this world needs more of. The Children’s Aid Society of London has lost one of the greatest Foster Mothers this city has ever seen. Sadly there are still many abandoned children that need a forever home and Diane would encourage anyone with a heart and a couple of spare bedrooms to welcome them into your home with love and understanding. Diane will be deeply missed but her legacy lives on in us all.